Monday, September 26, 2016

YOU DREAM THAT YOU ARE AWAKE

"What is the evidence for me that you are
now asleep, and as a citizen of a dreamland you dream that you are awake?

First, that you are not present. To be present
means that you are fully alert, attentive, and consciousin the
present moment. Whatever you do, you do that fully consciously, you focus your
entire attention on that particular activity. Or, do you feel free to declare that
you are present in every moment of your life?

The case with you (and with the majority of people)
is that you are not awake in the sense described above. You are careless most
of the time, as a large segment of your attention is bound by dealing with events
of your thoughts, events of past and plans for future and your own self. Psychological time therefore displaces the moment of the present, or
subordinates it to past or future.You therefore perform the overwhelming
majority of your daily activities mechanically. Your attention only becomes
more intensive when you meet someone or deal with something who or that you
find interesting, or useful in some way. Or the opposite: the person or thing
may do harm to you in some way." Frank M. Wanderer